Experiment
by NicktheHuman
Summary: Over the course of a week, Midoriya volunteers to help Hatsume with a new baby she's been working on as a way to repay her for all the help on his Hero Suit. But they find they have some things in common. Oneshot.


Disclaimer: This is purely a fan work and I own nothing

* * *

Monday

* * *

Uraraka frowned. "Why do we need to go here again?"

To her relief, Iida agreed. "Yes, I'm not exactly a big fan of...well any of this."

Midoriya rubbed the back of his head. "W-well, you guys don't have to c-come, but since Hatsume helped me so much on my suit I told her I'd come by and help her test out some stuff."

"As your friend, I feel compelled to be there to make sure she doesn't kill you," Iida replied, sternly.

"S-she's not that bad!" Midoriya insisted, though he remembered that time he had walked in on an explosion in class 1-H and began to sweat a bit.

"Yeah...that's why we're here." Uraraka added, not suspiciously in the least.

Midoriya frowned as he walked in front of his friends. He knew the two of them weren't Hatsume's biggest fans, but...he enjoyed her company. She had done a lot of awesome work for him, and his Hero Suit improvements really helped him reduce injuries and discomfort, which was great with his arm needing rehabilitation.

He stood in front of the Support workshop and knocked on the door. It was flung open eagerly, and the Hero students came face to face with the subject in question, Hatsume Mei.

"Midoriya!" She crowed, pulling up her goggles! "You came!" She was absolutely beaming, which just made the various greasemarks on her cheeks stand out more. She wiped the sweat off her brow. "Give me one second, Mr. Power Loader says I have to test this outside."

"That's because I just managed to get that burnt smell out of here," the teacher grunted from his desk, not looking up from his newspaper. "Take care of her Midoriya. She's, unfortunately, the best I got." There was a bit of teasing in his voice with that comment.

Hatsume just rolled her eyes, yellow crosshairs making the full circle. "Let me show you what we'll be testing!"

Midoriya followed her in, but Iida and Uraraka stayed back by the door, cautiously. They still didn't trust the girl. Izuku looked down at the table to see a fairly normal looking backpack on the table, though it had a sturdy bottom with ventilation on the bottom. "What is it?" He asked, his curiosity peaked. Ever since he had begun going to her for Support gear, he always loved hearing about what she made; it was almost as fun as Quirk analysis.

"Well, remember the Cavalry Battle way back? I used those boost boots for jumping?" Hatsume asked. As Izuku nodded, she continued, "I started thinking about how that one friend of yours...you know, the one with the...face? Had the gravity Quirk. We were practically flying!"

"I'm right here!" Uraraka cried from the door, "Uraraka Ochako!"

"Gesundheit," Hatsume replied, without taking her eyes of the backpack. "It made me think about creating a backpack that could function similarly. This is my prototype hoverpack! It should allow Quirkless hovering of up to five feet off the ground for up to two hours!"

"That's amazing!" Midoriya cried, pulling a small notebook from his pocket and jotting some notes down. "That would be incredibly helpful for rescue heroes if they're in a situation where terrain is compromised! Earthquakes, fuel spills, ice, flames, although if the flames grew you could run into some problems of course, but the potential for..."

Midoriya quickly fell into his old muttering habit. But while most people found it a bit creepy, Hatsume began bouncing on the balls of her feet. This was why she had taking a liking to the boy; he was almost as excited about her inventions as she was! He sometimes had suggestions, or would discuss practical applications for her gear that she had never even considered. Mainly, this was so she wouldn't have to walk in the snow; wet feet were distracting.

Unable to contain her excitement, Hatsume grabbed the hoverpack, and grabbed Midoriya's hand and began pulling him out of the lab, "Well come on, Izuku! Let's get at it!" She was so excited, she didn't even notice the deathglare Uraraka was giving her.

* * *

On the athletic field, Iida and Uraraka sat on the bleachers, outside of what they considered to be the blast radius of the experiment.

Midoriya, in the grassy field, slipped on the backpack as Hatsume pulled out the remote control.

"Thanks for volunteering," Hatsume beamed, pulling her goggles down, "I've tried it a few times, but I need to try lots of different body types to see how weight affects the batteries. And you're pretty much a beefcake under all those clothes."

Midoriya blushed. "W-well you make the coolest stuff for me. I-I like your tech, anyways."

"Thanks, Midoriya!" She replied. "You ready?"

He nodded.

"Okay, we'll start with two feet!" Hatsume exclaimed exuberantly, cranking a knob on her remote.

True to her word, Midoriya began to hover off the ground, though not nearly two feet, more like eight inches.

"A-Ah!" Midoriya flailed slightly at first before letting his feet hang. "This is so cool!"

Hatsume frowned though. "Hmm. That's not good. That's not nearly enough height. What do you weigh again?"

Midoriya blushed as he answered, and added, "L-last time I checked anway. It was last week but it shouldn't have changed much."

"This should account for people up to twice your size," Hatsume grunted. "Maybe the power output needs adjusting. I'm going to put this up to five feet and see how high you go, okay?"

The boy nodded. "R-right."

She cranked the dial all the way. Midoriya began to lift off the ground some more, only peaking at about two and a quarter feet. The pack began whirring a bit louder, it's circuits and gears spinning. "Whoa!" The boy cried, "This is so cool!"

"Argh, why is it not working optimally?" She groaned. Her remote emitting a blinking red light, and she looked at it shocked. "Wait, already?!"

"Already wha- OW!" Midoriya yelped as he suddenly was dropped and fell flat on his face.

Iida and Uraraka yelled something from the bleachers, but the other two couldn't quite hear them.

Hatsume inhaled sharply as she rushed over to Midoriya and helped up. "Whoops! Any damage to the baby or the test subject?" She asked as she inspected both the Hero in Training and her pack.

"I-I'm okay," Midoriya laughed, embarrassed to have face-planted. "I didn't hurt your machine, did I?" He gently took off the backpack and returned it to the inventor.

Hatsume shook her head, opening the top of the pack, revealing a circuit board. "Not at all. For some reason, not only did the power output not work on someone your size, but the battery bit the dust the second I tried to get any real height for you at all."

"S-sorry," he replied, rubbing the back of his head.

The Support Student looked up at him, confused. "What? What for? Not your fault."

He blushed. "I-I don't know. I really liked how the machine worked, even for how brief. I'm sure it's a bummer that it didn't quite work."

She just gave Midoriya her million-watt smile. "Thanks, Midoriya! That's okay. It just means it's a puzzle I haven't cracked yet. I'll just have to work on it tomorrow."

"Oh," Midoriya wondered, "Does that mean you want me to come back tomorrow and help you again?"

Hatsume nearly dropped the pack. "You...you'd do that for me?"

Midoriya got a bit flustered, but nodded. "O-of course, I could. What are friends for, right?"

Midoriya had never seen Hatsume blush before, but she did, ever so slightly, and answered, "Then yes! Come by tomorrow, same place and we'll give it another test run!"

* * *

Tuesday

* * *

Iida and Uraraka sighed as they sat on the bleachers again. Midoriya had told them, again, that they didn't need to be there, but they felt almost an obligation to their friend to look out for him.

On the athletic field, Midoriya slipped the backpack on again. "H-hey, Mei?"

"What's up?" She asked, tinkering with her remote control, screwing in the screws on its back panel.

"Why were you so shocked yesterday?" Midoriya asked. "When I said I'd come back?"

"Oh," Hatsume answered, nonchalantly, "Most people...I don't know, I guess they think I'm off-putting? They kinda act like your buddies over there." She gestured her head towards Iida and Uraraka. "Guess they take my passion for all this as some weird otaku stuff. I mumble and ramble about it and by the time I'm done, people have left."

"I uh...I get that," Midoriya admitted, scratching the side of his nose. "My Quirk developed late, so I grew up being the same way analyzing heroes and stuff. People keep telling me it's creepy."

"Nah," Hatsume replied, waving her hand. "It means you're smart. Analytical. Which is why you're the most fun person to show all my babies to!" She finished the sentence with a broad grin. "Ready for two feet again?"

"Let's do it!" He answered, confidently.

Hatsume barely cranked the dial, and Midoriya began rocketing skyward, until he was a few stories high.

"Too high!" He yelled.

"Oh wow, I put way too much power distribution into takeoff!" Hatsume exclaimed.

Uraraka and Iida yelled something indecipherable and jumped the barrier of the bleachers to rush towards the testing sight.

The red light flashed on Hatsume's remote again, signaling a battery failure, and Midoriya began to fall. "Uh oh!" The inventor yelped.

Luckily, she was wearing her stilts from the Sports Festival, and shot herself upward, catching Midoriya halfway towards the ground in a hugging motion, awkwardly trying to keep her grip on him...which was hard, because she caught him at a weird angle, and his head was pressed up against her chest. "I-I got you! Just let me lower us..."

As she bought the two of them to the ground, she set her friend and test subject down. "Well, back to the drawing board on that...Hey, Midoriya, are you?" She asked, taking a good look at him. "Your face is all red! Are you afraid of heights?"

"Y-y-yeah," Izuku replied, covering his face with his hands, "L-lets go with that. Thanks for the save."

Hatsume sighed. "Well, back to the drawing board on that power output. Sorry about this..."

"It's okay," he breathed a deep breath to recover his composure, "this is just the scientific process at work, right?"

She gave a small laugh. "Something like that."

"I can come back tomorrow and try again?" Midoriya asked.

Mei's jaw dropped as Midoriya handed her the backpack. "Yeah? I...I'd like that."

Midoriya gave his supportive smile. "Of course! I'm excited to see how this pack turns out."

Again, to his amazement, Hatsume seemed a little flustered. "Y-yeah! Let's do that."

From halfway between the bleachers and the test sight, Uraraka and Iida scowled.

"I really don't like her!" Uraraka growled.

"Yeah, she could have seriously hurt Midoriya!" Iida added.

"Y-yeah...that's why..." Uraraka stuttered, looking away.

* * *

Wednesday

* * *

Iida and Uraraka returned to their spot on the bleachers, watching as Midoriya once again slipped the pack on.

"Okay, I spent hours last night working on the power distribution, and using a new power source," Hatsume advised him, before yawning and stretching.

Midoriya could not help but guiltily look at her chest as she pushed it forward in her stretch. Forcing his gaze away, he frowned as he saw the dark circles under her eyes. "Are you doing that thing where you aren't sleeping again?"

"Sleep is for the weak, Izuku!" She answered, but not before rubbing her eyes again. "Anyway, let's do this. Two feet. Ready, go."

She cranked the dial on her remote, and the pack...whirred before making a little, "ding," noise.

"What...?" She asked.

Midoriya looked behind him, confused. It looked like the top of the pack had flung open. He reached behind him and grabbed what was ejected from the test product.

It was...a burrito?

Midoriya and Hatsume glanced at the burrito, and then to each other, each extremely confused.

Their confusion was compounded when Midoriya opened the burrito to reveal nothing but a bunch of Double A batteries.

"Well," Hatsume started, rubbing the back of her neck, "I've invented a backpack that manufacturer's double A batteries."

"Or," Midoriya hypothesized, "In your lack of sleep, you put a bunch of batteries in a tortilla and shoved them in the backpack."

Hatsume snapped and pointed to her friend. "That! I remember doing that. It was right at about five am."

Midoriya gave her a stern look. "Mei...you need to take better care of yourself!"

"Okay fine," she conceded, looking down, "I need to sleep sometimes. I guess I do better work when I've had rest, anyway."

Midoriya put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You'll get it Mei. Let's try again tomorrow after you've had a full sleep."

To his shock, she stepped forward and gave him a small hug. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks for helping me so much."

He turned crimson as he stepped back, the hug broken. "N-no p-problem! Y-you've helped me n-not break my arms again!" He calmed down a bit, and added. "Besides, this is kind of fun."

* * *

Thursday

* * *

This time, only Uraraka was on the bleachers; Iida was convinced Midoriya was able to take care of himself, but Uraraka wasn't so sure. Yes, that was why she was here. Definitely not because of that hug. No, not at all.

On the field, Midoriya and Hatsume stopped at their usual spot.

"Okay," Hatsume began, her exuberant smile back to normal after, "I got a full night's sleep, cleaned all the battery burritos out of it - "

"There were more?" Midoriya asked in disbelief.

"A ton!" Hatsume exclaimed with the same level of excitement. "Like eight!" She held up a notebook. "Apparently around 4am I wrote an idea for Batteritos. I don't know what it would be useful for, but I tend to jot down lots of ideas in here."

"Can I see it?" Midoriya asked, a smile appearing on his face.

Hatsume shrugged and handed the book over. Midoriya immediately began rubbing his chin as he skimmed the book. "These are all really neat ideas! I like the one for the wrist-mounted grappling claw."

She laughed. "Harder than it sounded. Still working on the schematics for it."

Midoriya laughed. "I just wanted to see. It's kind of like my Quirk analysis notebook."

Hatsume's head perked up. "Oh from your studies? Do you have it on you?"

Midoriya blushed but reached into his pocket. "I never really leave my dorm without it."

Hatsume skimmed it over, not expecting much, but one page in, her eyes flashed, and she set the book down on the ground and began writing in her notebook, comparing the two.

"W-what are you doing?" He asked, somewhat alarmed.

She was beaming, but didn't look up as she scribbled. "You have all these cool observations about Quirk strengths and weaknesses! And it made me think of babies that would help the strengths and cover the weaknesses."

"Wait, really?" Midoriya asked, sitting down next to her and looking at her notes.

"Yes! See here, your notes on Eraserhead?" She observed, pointing to his scribbles and drawings. "With the goggles? I could invent something that gently mists the eyes with cleaning solution, would help him keep them moisturized, prolonging the effect of his Quirk."

"Whoa, you think so?" Midoriya wondered, "That would be amazing."

"Mhmm!" Hatsume was ecstatic. "Do you think I could borrow this?"

"Yeah, I have like twelve," Midoriya laughed. "I have some on my class too. Maybe we could work on the suits? Not that I'd be much help..."

Hatsume reached over and hugged him again. "THAT'S A HUGE HELP, YOU BROCCOLI-HEADED DOOFUS"

Midoriya blushed. "I-I'll bring them tomorrow!"

Hatsume sprang to her feet and and helped the Hero to his feet as well. "You're too perfect, Midoriya. Now let's test this bad boy out."

Midoriya nodded and slipped the hoverpack on. "Two feet, like usual?"

"You got it!" Hatsume nodded, and turned the dial up to two feet.

The hoverpack began lifting off the ground, but did not take Midoriya with it as the straps ripped off. With no counterweight, it went up much higher than intended, causing Mei to yelp and turn it off. "It's already out of range already?! What?!"

The pack peaked at about 100 feet, and suddenly, finally shut off as Mei jumped into the air, hoping the signal to reach. The pack began to fall, but a gust of wind pushed it off course...

...towards the UA Pool.

"NO, NOT WATER!" Hatsume yelled.

Midoriya's Hero instinct took over, flinging himself into 10% Full Cowl, and taking off towards the pool.

"Midoriya?!" Hatsume exclaimed in shock as she watched the boy take off at night speeds.

As he got to the edge of the pool, he took a big flying leap over the fence, soaring over the water, and snatching the hoverpack from mid air.

Tsuyu was swimming in the pool, and saw the whole thing. "Hey Midoriya!"

"Hey Asui-san!" Midoriya yelled back as he landed across the other side of the fence, and rolled across the grass.

"I told you to call me Tsu!" The croaky voice came from the water.

Midoriya brushed the sweat off his brow. "Close one."

Hatsume finally caught up with him. "That was awesome, Izuku! You saved the baby!"

The Hero boy laughed. "I know you've been working hard on it. Wouldn't want all of this to go to waste."

"Well...it might be all for nothing." Her smile faltered a little. "I can't get this stupid thing to work."

Izuku was surprised. Mei never seemed discouraged. "I'm sure you'll get it. Let's give it one more try tomorrow, okay? I have a good feeling about."

"Well," Mei conceded, smile returning, "Alright. If you think so."

* * *

Friday

* * *

Midoriya reported to the field alone. Uraraka and Iida were busy, but that was okay. He was coming to look forward to his test time with Hatsume. She was ready, with the hoverpack and remote, in the field.

"Okay," she greeted, "I have reinforced the straps. Improved the signal on the on the remote. Everything is optimal. You ready?"

Midoriya nodded. "Let's do it! Oh, but first..." He pulled all of his Hero notebooks out of his backpack, "These are for you to borrow...just please be careful? These mean a lot to me."

Hatsume's eyes flashed as she took the books. "Of course Midoriya. These are your babies, right?"

"Right," Midoriya laughed, blushing.

He strapped in, and Hatsume dialed the remote up to two feet, holding her breath.

And both her and Midoriya burst out in happy laughter as he began to hover, perfectly two feet off the ground.

"Hatsume, this is awesome!" He cried, "This will be great for rescue operations!"

"Perfect!" She yelled. "Five feet! Let's go!"

She turned up the knob, and Midoriya, as planned, finally hovered five feet off the ground.

"Woohoo!" Midoriya fist pumped. "How's the battery doing?"

"Ninety-seven percent!" Hatsume cried.

She steered Midoriya in a few simple circles and laps. After fifteen minutes, the battery was draining as intended, and she brought him in for a landing.

"Hatsume, you did it!" He cheered.

Hatsume was so ecstatic, she didn't know how to contain it. And she was so happy to be spending time with Midoriya, and for all his help...

...she grabbed his hands, pulled him towards her, and smashed her lips against his.

She wasn't quite sure why she did it - she knew what kissing was. It didn't seem very efficient. But maybe she was wrong; kissing Midoriya sent her heartbeat racing and mind whirring.

After a few moments, she pulled away, and looked at the boy as he blushed and stuttered.

"H-h-Hatsume!" He blurted out, "I d-don't understand."

She shrugged, laughing. "I guess spending time with you, running tests made me want to try something..."

Truth be told, she'd never felt this way before about anything that was not an invention or gadget.

She liked it.

"Would you mind if I..." She ran her hand through his hair and looked at him, "Ran another test on you..?"

He gulped, but smiled nonetheless. "S-sure thing."

As she pressed her lips into his again, a million other new experiments rushed into her head...

...she had plans for the two of them.


End file.
